Week Ending 15th October
The Hat ?
A Hat is something which protects our head. We live in a world which is often chaotic and full of people and situations which may affect our happiness. We need to have strategies which will protect us from hostile attacks. I am using The Hat as a symbol for this.
When I was quite young and knew absolutely nothing about mindfulness or the power of visualisation, I invented an umbrella. I was dyslexic (undiagnosed in those days – but I couldn’t seem to learn how to spell anything or remember any kind of lists or rules – and I was incapable of copying correctly from the blackboard – so I was often in trouble at school.) My break-times were often spent sitting miserably at my desk, struggling to complete an assignment to the satisfaction of my teacher. They say that our schooldays are the happiest of our lives – but that certainly was not true for me.
Somewhere on my way through Primary School, probably when I was 9 or 10 years old, I invented an umbrella and whenever a teacher started to ‘go on’ at me I would imagine that I put up the umbrella and the teacher’s words just pinged off the umbrella like raindrops. They simply did not reach my ears. I sometimes found it hard not to smile because the teacher was getting so cross with me but I was completely protected by the umbrella. Of course the teacher might realise I was not listening or paying attention – but what could they do? I had my ‘hat’ on. I was protecting myself.
Over the years I have come across other similar strategies. One is to create an imaginary protective balloon or bubble. This is all around you. You are inside, completely protected by this invisible shield.
As you inhale you can imagine you are bringing peace, love, strength and happiness into your lungs. This is permeating every cell of your body and spreading, into the protective bubble, surrounding you with peace and happiness. – and then as you exhale, imagine you are inflating the balloon or bubble which is all around you – filling it with even more of the ‘divine’ or ‘positive’ qualities, the peace, love, strength and happiness you have inhaled and protecting you from any ‘hostile attacks’ from outside. The protective balloon or bubble is getting bigger and stronger with each breath, better at deflecting any negativity or hostile attacks.
I will return to many of these strategies – especially Hunting and Harvesting Mutually Joyful Encounters and The Hat in later articles.
Spiritual Wisdom
I have been practising meditation for many years and my spiritual Teacher has often spoken about the need to protect ourselves not only from hostile attacks from outside, but also from our own negative thoughts. Self-awareness, mindfulness, concentration, visualisation and meditation itself are all excellent strategies to build up protection and enable us to remain happy and peaceful even in difficult circumstances. The following is just one answer he has given to a question on this topic –
Question: There is so much injustice and nothing we can do to help ourselves.
Sri Chinmoy: You say that there is nothing you can do, but I am giving you a way to protect yourself. We have been meditating here for five or ten minutes. This meditation has real power. In your office there is much injustice. Injustice itself is a kind of negative power, a destructive power. True, you cannot change the minds of the people who are causing this injustice, but you can protect yourself against them. They are striking you inwardly and because of your fear or your incapacity you don’t strike them back. But if you become very strong, very powerful inwardly, your strength will take you to some other place or will give them some illumination. God’s Compassion will save you from this kind of injustice if you enter into the spiritual life seriously.
Another way of protecting yourself, which is quicker, is to have peace of mind. At our Tuesday meditation we bring down Peace, which is very solid. It is not something imaginary. You can feel Peace; you can swim in the sea of Peace when you meditate with us on Tuesdays. Injustice is an undivine power, but Peace is an infinitely more powerful divine weapon. It is solid power. When you are in Peace, no human power can upset you.
When you have to defend yourself or protect yourself, try to use a higher weapon. If people say something and you retaliate on the same level, there will be no end to it. Again, if you simply swallow your anger, they will continue to take advantage of you. But when they see and feel tremendous inner peace in you, they will see something in you which can never be conquered. They will see a change in you, and this change will not only puzzle them but also threaten and frighten them. They will feel that their weapons are useless.
Peace is the most effective weapon with which to conquer injustice. When you pray and meditate, your whole being becomes flooded with Peace. Then, no matter what other people do, you will just feel that they are your own children playing in front of you. You will say, “These are all children. What more can I expect from them?” But right now, because they are grown up in terms of years, you become angry and upset instead. If you pray and meditate regularly, you will soon feel that your peace is infinitely stronger, more fulfilling and more energising than the unfortunate situation that they create.
Sri Chinmoy, Beyond Within – A collection of writings 1964-1975 Agni Press, 1975